Farm Life at Warren Wilson College

The magazine ranks the colleges based on each college’s responses to an 11 page questionnaire. Topics surveyed include energy supply, efficiency, food, and academics plus other categories.  Warren Wilson, which the article says gets one third of its food from farms within 500 miles of campus including from its own six-acre organic garden, scored 81.8 out of 100.  The number one school, Green Mountain College of Vermont, scored an 86.8.

Warren Wilson College boasts that “We are not for everyone…” and offers a unique triad approach to education: academics, work, and service.  The accredited, four-year, private liberal arts college was founded in 1894 with a philosophy of sustainability.  With this latest ranking, it seems that that philosophy has remained with the school for more than 100 years.

At Greybeard Realty, we pay attention to sustainability as well.  We offer a complete list of green homes available in the Asheville Real Estate market. Sharon McConnaughy, our sales agent specializing in environmentally conscious homes, can help steer you toward environmentally sound homes in the Asheville area.  For more information please contact her.

A statewide voluntary certification program, HealthyBuilt Homes offers a recognized green certification, technical assistance, field consultation, and other services that enable small and medium sized home builders to increase their green building expertise. These builders become more efficient and build better green homes and eco-conscious Asheville home buyers win! Help the environment, help the local economy and live in a beautiful home in Asheville.

Here are some Healthy Built homes in Asheville and the area:

33 WORDSWORTH ROAD Black Mountain

37 Shady Park Lane Asheville

There are also many homes in Asheville with recent green technology updates. This one is particularly notable: 250 North Griffing Boulevard Asheville

Whether it’s a choice to bring sustainability and healthy living indoors or the desire for energy efficiency, there are countless reasons to buy “Green.” For a home to be certified requires third party verification. ENERGY STAR homes have met the requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes have energy-saving features that typically make them 20-30% more efficient than standard homes. Benefits for homebuyers and New Home Features can be found at www.energystar.gov. By clicking on the “Take the Tour” icon at the bottom of the page you can actually look behind the walls of an Energy Star home.

An Energy Star townhome in Black Mountain, NC

NC HealthyBuilt Homes have met criteria established by ENERGY STAR plus additional requirements which can be seen at http://wncgbc.org/healthybuilt/checklist.php. Points are awarded for builders completing the various items on the checklist. There are four levels of certification depending on how many features the home has. For a list of homeowner benefits go to http://wncgbc.org/healthybuilt/benefits.php.